While interest in Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 tablet is increasing it seems that the growth has come at an enormous cost. Computerworld found that Microsoft revealed in an 8-K statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that it has lost $1.7 billion on its Surface line of tablets so far, which is nearly double the $900 million write down that Microsoft took last year on unsold Surface inventory.

Microsoft’s operating income last quarter was $6.48 billion and its earnings per share only narrowly missed Wall Street expectations after posting better-than-expected earnings the quarter before. Things could have been a lot worse. Microsoft to launch the smaller-screen Surface Mini alongside the Surface Pro 3 in May, but changed its mind at the last moment, reportedly because it feared the tablet would not sell well.

Most of the cash Microsoft is spending is on the manufacturing expenses for the Surface Pro 3 line, which Microsoft started selling, but only in limited quantities, near the end of quarter. Although most sales would presumably be recorded in the following quarters, the initial production costs would have been booked into the June period. The fully-fleshed-out line only reached retail on Aug. 1.

If Microsoft had not created a Surface and invested half the money on a dead cert at Derby, it could still be quids in. Funny thing is that if Steve Ballmer had told shareholders he lost millions on a horse they would get upset, but Wall Street is ok with you wasting cash on a product which is too expensive for anyone to afford.

As expected and rumored for the last couple of days, Microsoft has now officially unveiled the Surface Pro 3 12-inch tablet at an event in New York.

The Surface Pro 3 is powered by a choice of Intel Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs, it has a kickstand and stylus support and aims, at least according to Microsoft, to replace your notebook. Designed around a 12-inch 2160x1440 screen with a 3:2 aspect ratio, the Surface Pro 3 tablet follows Microsoft's Surface design language. The Start button is moved to the right side. Microsoft managed to slim it down to 9.1mm which is rather impressive for a 12-inch slate with Haswell inside. The exact dimensions of the Surface Pro 3 are 29.2x20.1x9.1mm (11.5x7.93x0.36-inches) and it weighs around 800g (1.76lbs).

Quite a few CPU, RAM and storage options

So far, Microsoft has revealed that the Surface Pro 3 will be powered by Intel's latest Haswell CPUs, while the rest of the hardware specifications include choice of either 4GB or 8GB of RAM, depending on the SKU and 64, 128, 256 or 512GB of integrated storage.

It also packs front and rear 5-megapixel cameras capable of recording 1080p video, front stereo speakers, while connectivity includes full size USB 3.0 port, mini DisplayPort output and microSD card slot. It also comes with 802.11ac WiFi and will, of course, run on Windows 8.1 Pro OS.

It would not be a Microsoft Surface table if it did not come with a plethora of accessories so we now a new cover, the Type Cover, which will have a larger trackpad, the new Surface Pen with pressure sensitivity, as well as a new Docking Station and Surface Etherenet Adapter. The Surface Pro 3 also comes with a new integrated multi-position kickstand.

Where and when can we buy it?

Pre-orders for the new Surface Pro 3 tablet starts tomorrow and it will be available in the United States as of June 20th, while the rest of the world should get sometime around end of August. The price starts at US $799 for the Core i3 SKU with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, US $999 for the Core i5 version with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and US $1299 for the Core i5 version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space. The Core i7 equipped Surface Pro 3 tablet will start at US $1549, pack 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space while the top offer will be the Core i7 version with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage setting you back at US $1949.

Microsoft is expected to introduce a new Surface tablet on May 20. Although it managed to keep a lid on leaks and kept us guessing for months, it now appears that the Surface Mini will be powered by a Qualcomm SoC. This means Nvidia is out of at least one Surface tablet. Microsoft’s first and second generation Surface tablets based on ARM chips were powered by Nvidia silicon. The Mini is Qualcomm’s for the taking, although this is still not official.

Thanks to CNET we now know a bit more about Redmond’s x86 tablet plans. Many were hoping for a Bay Trail powered Surface Mini, with x86 Windows. This appears to be off the table, as the Mini will end up with an ARM chip and Windows RT 8.1.

Intel will power an upcoming Surface tablet, but it won’t be the Mini, and it won’t have a Bay Trail SoC inside. According to CNET Microsoft will use a new power-optimized Haswell variant. This means Intel will again get the Surface Pro, while Qualcomm ends up with the Mini.

But where does this leave Nvidia?

If Microsoft does another 10-inch ARM Surface, it might tap Nvidia and get some Tegra K1 parts. On the other hand, if decides to phase out the 10-incher in favour Surface Mini, Nvidia will be out of the game altogether.

We still don’t know anything about Microsoft’s long-term plans, but the 10-inch Surface (RT) was never a big success and we wouldn’t be surprised if Microsoft decides to ditch it this year, or next year for that matter.

Microsoft is planning to host an event on May 20 to ‘discuss’ the rumoured Surface Mini. According to the Register the invites have already gone out, but we didn’t get one since Fudzilla is considered too close to Apple.

This is the second credible Surface Mini rumour to surface over the last month, pardon the pun. Back in April a wholesaler listed a smart cover for the Surface Mini. It said the cover would start shipping on May 18. So far Microsoft has managed to keep the spec under wraps and we must say we are rather impressed. We usually get to see a flood of leaks ahead of high profile announcements, but so far we’ve got nothing on the Surface Mini. In fact, we are still not sure whether it’s an x86 or ARM device, although most industry watchers expect an x86 device (Bay Trail-T to be specific).

Then again it could pack an AMD Mullins, or Nvidia’s Tegra K1, or any of a range of MediaTek chips – we simply don’t know for sure. Now that we finally have competitive x86 tablet parts from two manufacturers, the case for ARM Windows tablets is not an easy one to make, so we’re leaning toward an x86 part, too.

Tech wholesaler Vostrostone probably got a few angry calls from Redmond last night after the company listed a curious product on Amazon. The product itself isn’t very impressive, it’s a smart cover for a Microsoft Surface tablet.

However, according to the listing the cover only fits the “Microsoft Surface Mini tablet (For Surface Mini, Black).” The cover should be in stock on May 18, which means this the Surface Mini should launch on May 18 or close to it.

Surface Mini might give Redmond a fighting chance

Microsoft reported tablet revenue of $500 million for the last quarter. This means it sold a million or so tablets. To put the numbers in perspective, Apple sold 16.35 million iPads last quarter. It’s not going well for Microsoft, but then again the Surface was pronounced dead last year, yet it’s still around today and Microsoft is still introducing new products. Growth is slowing as tablets mature, so Microsoft may have missed the gravy train, but Windows 8.1 tablets are still seeing growth and they are quite popular in business circles.

So where does the Surface Mini fit in? It’s hard to say, as corporate users tend to buy Surface Pro tablets because of their legacy support, physical keyboard and top notch performance. However, we don’t know the Surface Mini spec yet and we don’t know how Microsoft plans to position it.

Intel, Nvidia or MediaTek?

Rumours of a 7.5- to 8-inch Surface Mini emerged last year, so there has been a lot of speculation and practically no facts. Even today, roughly a month away from the rumoured launch, we still don’t know the spec.

The Mini could even replace the ARM-based Surface 2, in which case it should end up with an ARM chipset. Microsoft used Nvidia’s Tegra SoC in the first two generations of its ARM-based tablets. The leaked date roughly coincides with Nvidia’s Tegra K1 rollout schedule, as the chipmaker is expected to have the first parts on the market in the first half of 2014, at least that is the official line.

However, if Redmond is gunning for a lower price point, the company may choose an alternative chipset. Rumours of a possible Microsoft – MediaTek deal have been floating around for weeks, but it’s hard to say whether there’s any truth to them.

On the other hand Intel has been aggressively pushing its Bay Trail-T parts, so Microsoft could get some nice x86 silicon on the cheap. A Bay Trail Surface would make sense. The Surface Pro uses Intel’s big cores – the current model is based on U-series Haswell parts. A smaller x86 Surface based on a smaller Intel chip sounds like a nice addition to the Surface line-up. There are already a number of sub-$299 Windows 8.1 tablets based on Bay Trail-T parts and most of them tend to be 8-inchers.

Software giant Microsoft will begin shipping keyboard-cover for its Surface tablets which it claims will increase your battery life. Microsoft has opened up preorders of the Power Cover for its line of Surface tablets with a ship date of 19 March.

The cover provides protection for the Surface’s touchscreen and doubles as a full keyboard and trackpad. But it has another function that helps the tablet run longer between charges. According to the Microsoft Store the Power Cover is a classic laptop keyboard that extends the battery life of your Surface up to 70 percent. It works with the Surface 2, Surface Pro or Pro 2 while it sleeps.

“You’ll have plenty of juice to stay unplugged all day in the office, during a full day of classes, or on a cross-country flight,” claims Microsoft.

Microsoft Surface 2 ProAccording to the company’s estimates, the Surface Pro 2 can deliver seven hours of video playback, stretching to nearly 12 hours with the Power Cover.

The Power Cover is available in any colour so long as it is black. It uses mechanical keys like those found on the Type Cover 2. It includes a capacitive trackpad, but unlike the Type Cover, its keys are not backlit. It adds 0.55 lbs. to the Surface and is 9.75 mm (0.38 inches) thick. It costs $199.99 which makes it Microsoft’s most expensive keyboard cover

According to a new report from enterprise software vendor Good Technology, Apple’s iPad still reigns supreme in the enterprise tablet space. In fact, Good says iPads accounted for 91.4 percent of all enterprise tablet activations in Q4 2013.

It appears that the financial services industry is the biggest buyer of enterprise tablets, as it accounted for 46.8 percent of all activations. Various business and professional services came in second at 13.9 percent, while manufacturing and the public sector accounted for 9.4 and 9 percent respectively.

However, a new survey carried out by advertising and web analytics firm Chitika indicates that Windows tablets are very popular in a BYOD setting. The survey found that people simply used Microsoft Surface tablets a lot more during office hours.

"Surface users generate a slightly greater share of their total Web traffic during working hours as compared to iPad or Android tablet users," Chitika said. "However, in terms of raw traffic volume, iPad and Android tablet users lead the pack at all hours of the day, and usage patterns among all tablets remain relatively similar overall."

Chitika also found that iPad users are by far the most active tablet users on a daily basis. They generate four times as much web traffic as users of Android tablets. During office hours, however, Microsoft’s Surface users generate a higher share of web traffic than users of Android and iOS tablets.

This basically means that people appear to be using Windows tablets in the office, but at home they prefer something else.

Microsoft’s plan to copy Apple’s disastrous business plan could results in millions of Surface tablets being chucked away because they can’t be fixed.

The software giant had a look at Apple’s ideas to make a quick buck out of users by forcing them to either have them fixed by its genius bars, or buy a new one, and thought it was a great idea. But like many things Microsoft, it has resulted in a new Surface tablet which is expensive and cannot be fixed if it goes wrong.

iFixit said that the Surface Pro 2 looks a lot like the original Surface Pro, and it's built the same, too. But it is packed full of glue and more than 90 screws. This makes it impossible to repair and if it goes wrong, it will have to be chucked out.

If you can pry it open without destroying it, the only difference is that it has a powered by a fourth-generation Intel Core i5 processor based on the Haswell microarchitecture. It is still a 1.7GHz quad-core processor, just like the old one, so you are not likely to see much performance improvement.

Given that the new one is unrepairable, it is probably better to buy the older model at a cheaper price then if it does break you will not care so much.

Microsoft launched its second generation Surface tablets on Monday and the reception was lukewarm, because it failed to address a few shortcomings.

The Surface 2 is an RT rig and many in the industry simply don’t feel Windows RT has much of a future, even if the new tablet has a much faster processor and high def screen. However, the Surface Pro 2 has legs, as it should pave the way for other Windows 8.x tablets and hybrids. At least in theory.

The price still remains a major concern. The entry level Pro 2, with 4GB of RAM and a 64GB SSD, is priced at €879. As 64GB is a bit paltry for a Windows machine, we suspect the 128GB version will get a bit more attention and it costs €979, which is already starting to sound like too much.

The 256GB and 512GB models are priced at €1,279 and €1,779 respectively. They do include 8GB of RAM, which doesn’t add much to the production cost, but the added SSD capacity does, or does it? A Crucial M500 240GB mSATA 6GBps drive costs €149 in retail, while a 480GB unit goes for €309 – and bear in mind that these are retail prices. Redmond is practically doing a Cupertino when it comes to additional storage.

In addition, anyone buying a Surface Pro 2 really needs to get some sort of cover, either the Touch Cover, Type Cover or the new Power Cover with an integrated battery. They are all very costly, especially the Power Cover which should retail for €199. The Surface Pro docking station is also priced at €199.

To be fair, all Windows 8 tablets that don’t happen to be based on obsolete Atom 2000-series processors are very pricey and the Surface Pro 2 really doesn’t stand out in terms of pricing – but that also seems to be Microsoft’s problem, doesn’t it?

While it has already dropped the price of Surface RT and Pro tablets in some regions, Microsoft has now decided to drop prices on Surface RT bundles and the Touch Cover as well as to make Surface price cuts permanent in all regions.

According to a report from ZDNet, Microsoft thinks that the customer response to recent Surface pricing and keyboard-cover promotions has been good and has decided to launch Surface Pro, Touch Cover and Surface RT bundles at even more affordable prices starting as of August 29th. The price cuts will be available all around the globe.

The Surface Pro will now have a permanant starting price of US $799 while the Surface RT will start from US $399. Even the Touch Cover got its much needed price cut from rather insane US $119 down to a decidedly less insane US $79.